Disc drives are common data storage devices. The data storage intensive operations of today often require multiple disc drives to be networked to other resources, including one or more host computers. Network architectures are available in a variety to suit the requirements of the intended use and the communication protocol to be followed. Several common communication protocols are compatible with a serial communication interface.
Serial communication interfaces typically use a reference clock to develop the clock source used to transmit serial data as well as recover serial received data. The transmitter frequency (transmitter reference clock frequency) and the receiver clock frequency (receiver reference clock frequency) are carefully controlled to specific tolerances to ensure the serial data stream can be properly recovered. Serial data transmission protocols are designed to allow minor variations between the data transmitter frequency and the data receiver clock frequency by allowing the insertion and deletion of fill characters within specified limits.
Embodiments of the present invention address these and other problems, and offer other advantages over the prior art.